Edna Lau

A Lifelong Learner

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Welcome!

Greetings and welcome!

I am originally from Vancouver, beautiful British Columbia. Although born and raised in Canada, my husband’s postings have given our family the opportunity to experience life abroad. My older son, Taite, is now working and my little one, Joshua, has just graduated in mechanical engineering.

While my husband enjoys photography, the boys love their ice hockey and I love my dance. When I am not working or on the dance floor doing hip hop, K-Pop or contemp, I'm on my yoga mat, bouldering, finishing a jigsaw puzzle, listening to music or reading a book or two or three. I take every opportunity to see the world, visit different places, explore local and modern gastronomic delights, and learn about new cultures and people.

My core work experience for the last 25 years has been in the elementary school as Early & Primary Years Principal, PYP/Curriculum Coordinator, Homeroom Teacher and EAL Specialist Teacher at international schools in Hong Kong, Beijing, Singapore and Shanghai. However, I am also very much involved in Dance and Theatre with ES, MS and HS students wherever I go, either at my own school or as a visiting ISTA Artist elsewhere. I count myself extremely blessed to have crossed paths with so many wonderful people - students, parents, teachers, colleagues and friends.

Over the years, I have been fortunate to have many professional development opportunities and have taken on leadership roles with curriculum development. This includes facilitating work around designing transdisciplinary project-based inquiry units, where experiential learning is relevant, engaging and challenging. I am well versed with incorporating Readers and Writers Workshop, Math Workshop, STEAM, technology and action-based service-oriented learning. I thrive on sharing the positive energy that comes from productive collaboration and being part of a professional learning community that grows together.

My knowledge of curriculum and leadership skills have served me well in guiding teams and individuals through numerous initiatives and changes, be it adopting new curriculum standards, implementing programmes or using data and coaching to support best practice. I believe our work is only sustainable through collaboration, hence I place great value on strong relationships built on trust and understanding as we work towards a common mission and vision. There is great satisfaction with each ‘aha’ moment, achievements big or small and every bit of learning accomplished together.

More recently, my role as Early and Primary Years Principal has allowed me to gain an even more elevated understanding of the micro and macro dynamics within an organization and the work needed to lead a school. I believe it is critical to mine the collective expertise to build synergy in the group for effective change that is learner centered - for students, staff, parents and all community members alike. Regardless of the title, be it Principal, Curriculum Coordinator, Team Lead or Teacher, I am confident in building a culture of learning, using protocols and routines with norms of collaboration in place to drive growth and improvement.

As an educator, I firmly believe that nurturing a growth mindset and having clear and high expectations is key. This means creating a warm and supportive environment where students and colleagues feel safe to take risks in their learning. I aim to motivate in ascertaining their inner strengths and abilities by differentiating and scaffolding, as well as finding what truly sparks their interest and inspires them.

In this fast changing world, I hope to nurture well-rounded lifelong learners, who will be compassionate and strong in character, with the aptitude and skills to face whatever challenges that come their way.